Heartwarming ‘Modern Family’ Has First Kiss, Two Weddings … and a Baby

In what is surely the highlight of Season 4, TV’s favorite “Modern Family” officially expanded with the long-awaited arrival of Baby Pritchett in Wednesday night’s episode.

And … it’s a boy! Jay and Gloria’s baby — whose name has not yet been revealed — debuted at the end of a surprisingly poignant episode that featured the perfect blend of comedy and sentiment.

While the promos of Gloria screaming “Get out!” teased the promise of high drama, the baby’s birth did not overshadow the entire episode, which instead centered around a surprise 14th birthday party for Manny.

Leave it to the little one to end up the “Party Crasher” (the episode title), when despite her best efforts to avoid it, Gloria’s water breaks during the event (so the new kid has already managed to steal attention away from his big brother).

But not before Manny’s other surprise. Unaware of the festivities awaiting him when he opens the front door, Manny brings home his girlfriend, who plants the teen’s very first kiss on him — in front of the party guests waiting inside. “Surprise!”

Other tender moments stemmed from daddy-daughter drama, like when Phil tries not to kill Hayley’s 38-year-old jeans designer boyfriend (despite being dazzled by his denim), and when Mitch and Cam stage dueling, faux-fabulous weddings for Lily, complete with stuffed animal attendants.

While the cast has been anticipating the new arrival almost as much as viewers, even they were surprised by how emotional filming the scene was, according to executive producer Christopher Lloyd.

“It’s just a brief moment between Jay and Gloria, where they’re holding this child for the first time. It kind of took everyone’s breath away,” Lloyd told USA Today. “Obviously, we weren’t literally surprised. We knew it was coming. We wrote this script. But, suddenly, there it is. And it’s an actual baby. And then the rest of the family comes. It once again reinforced how much these people love each other.”